Scholars

Research Associate Barbara S. Okun is an associate professor on the faculty of social sciences at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and former chair of the university’s department of population studies. She is a past fellow of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, the National Science Foundation, and the Rashi Foundation, Israel.

Okun’s research interests include family structure and labor market behavior, and the impact of intermarriage on ethnic and racial stratification. She is a reviewer for Demography, International Family Planning Perspectives, and Population Research and Policy Review, among other journals. Her recent publications include:

• “The Public Sector, Family Structure, and Labor Market Behavior: Jewish Mothers in Israel” (with A. L. Oliver and O. Khait-Marelly), Work and Occupations, May 2007;
• “Educational Stratification among Arabs and Jews in Israel: Historical Disadvantage, Discrimination, and Opportunity” (with D. Friedlander), Population Studies, July 2005; and
• “Fertility Control: General Overview,” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2001.

Okun received a BA in applied mathematics from Harvard University, and an MA and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.